"Once committed to an attack, fly in at full speed. After scoring crippling or disabling hits, I would clear myself and then repeat the process. I never pursued the enemy once they had eluded me. Better to break off and set up again for a new assault. I always began my attacks from full strength, if possible, my ideal flying height being 6,705m. (22,000 ft.) because at that altitude I could best utilize the performance of my aircraft. Combat flying is based on the slashing attack and rough maneuvering. In combat flying, fancy precision aerobatic work is really not of much use. Instead, it is the rough maneuver which succeeds".
"If
taken by surprise, I would do one thing or another automatically, depending
on conditions. If I had time and saw my attacker coming in, I would wait and
see how close he would come before opening fire. If he began firing at long
range, I could always turn in to him. If he held his fire, I got ready for a
real battle. Even against good competition, you could always break away by using
negative Gs. In a tight turning maneuver, the attacker must turn more tightly
in order to pull lead on his quarry. For a split second you pass under his nose
and his line of sight, as he tries to line his guns up ahead of you. It is precisely
at that moment when he gets his gunnery angle on you that you push the nose
forward, kick bottom rudder and are gone. Your attacker cannot see you. He is
intent on pulling lead and is turning in the opposite direction, in an even
tighter circle, even as you are diving and turning the other way. As I said
before the use of the negative G is a last ditch measure. Frankly, I tried everything
possible never to be placed in such a position because if your attacker had
a good wingman, he could quickly pick up that maneuver. This is why I avoided
dogfights. They were long and drawn out affairs, requiring all your attention,
allowing another opponent to jump you. They were the longest and most difficult
method of getting a kill, the expensive and most dangerous".
"The
key to the approach was simple: Get in as close to the enemy as possible. Your
windscreen has to be black with the image, the closer the better. In that position
you could not miss and this was the essence of my attack. The farther you are
from the enemy, the more chance your bullets have of missing the target, the
less the impact. When you are close, and I mean very close, every shot hits
home. The enemy absorbs it all. It doesn't matter what your angle is on him
or what position you are firing from, it doesn't matter what he does. When you
are that close, evasion is useless and too late. It matters not how good a pilot
he is. All his skill is negated, you hit him and he goes down. I would say get
in close, there is no guesswork".
"I catch sight of the glittering reflections of the sun on the uncamouflaged American bombers, off to the left and at the same altitude, about 7,620m. (25,000 ft). Still a long way away, the stately enemy formation crosses in front of us from left to right. I carefully search the sky for enemy escorts but I can make out only three or four condensation trails above the bombers. Curving around, the Sturmgruppe is now directly in front of me, about 150 yards (137m.) below. I have a grandstand view of the attack as it unfolds. The bombers open up with a furious defensive fire, filling the sky with tracers as we move in at full throttle. At 300 yards (274m.), the main body of the Fw190s open up with their 20 mm and 30 mm cannon, the murderous trains of high explosive shells streaking out towards the Liberators. Within seconds, two of the giant aircraft have exploded into great fireballs, while several others have caught fire and are falling out of formation. On either side of me my Schwarm comrades fire like mad and score hit after hit on their targets. Looking around, I see the sky is like a chaotic circus; whirling and fluttering pieces of aircraft, and entire wing falling complete with engines and propellers still turning, several parachutes and some of our aircraft battling with the few P-38 escort fighters that have reached us".
Rule 1: Try to secure advantages before attacking. If possible, keep the sun behind you.
Rule 2: Always carry through an attack when you have started it.
Rule 3: Fire only at close range, and only when your opponent is properly in your sights.
Rule 4: Always keep your eye on your opponent, and never let yourself be deceived by ruses.
Rule 5: In Any form of attack it is essential to assail your opponent from behind.
Rule 6: If your opponent dives on you, do not try to evade his onslaught, but fly to meet it.
Rule 7: When over the enemy's lines never forget your own line of retreat.
Rule 8: For the Staffel: Attack on principle in groups of four or six. When the fight breaks up into a series of single combats, take care that several do not go for one opponent.
This system was invented by GruppenFührer Boelcke in World War I, he then had von Richthofen and Immelmann as students. His students further refined it, becoming the top aces in World War I, with the best kill/loss ratio.
"If Boelcke was with you, you felt perfectly safe"
The new pilots were encouraged to attack, thus gaining experience, without fear that they were not covered from behind and protected. Of course, in the first battles, it is important to score some kills early, as von Richthofen said -
"It takes a few early wins to learn how this trick is done"